By a Swedish practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net, September 23, 2003) On September the 18, 2003, Swedish
practitioners held a press conference at Gothenburg's Civic Hall to let people
know that the Chinese Consulate has made several attempts to stop the
broadcasting of the program "Falun Gong Time" on Swedish radio.
The host of a local broadcasting station, a representative from the
non-governmental organization "International Women's Organization of
Freedom and Peace," the host of Falun Gong Time and the Vice-Chairman of
the Swedish Falun Dafa Association gave speeches at the conference. All of these
representatives condemned the Chinese officials' attempts to spread their terror
tactics to Sweden by controlling the Swedish media and restraining the freedom
of speech of the Swedish people.
In July, the Chinese consul official in Gothenburg went to the local radio
station and asked them to stop broadcasting Falun Gong Time, in the name of
"maintaining a good relationship with China." After being rejected by
the station, they contacted the management committee of the local radio station
and tried to have the broadcasting cancelled through administrative means. After
being rejected again, they contacted the local government in Gothenburg to try
to stop the sponsorship of the Falun Gong program.
This event has brought indignation from all walks of life. Falun Gong
practitioners officially reported the incident to the police on September 15.
The incident is now under investigation.
At the press conference, the host of Falun Gong Time, Yvonne Kleberg,
explained what happened during this incident and also told the audience about
the persecution in China.
The head of the Gothenburg radio
station that broadcasts Falun Gong Time, Mr. Hirschi, said, "We think that
this is a severe invasion of Swedish people's freedom of speech. To me, freedom
of speech is a beautiful symbol of democracy in our country. It is even more
important than the right to vote." He expressed with anger that the
consulate officials' actions were serious and intolerable. He finally stressed
that no matter what the Chinese Consulate says, the broadcasting of Falun Gong
Time will not be stopped.
A-L Bj?berg from the
International Women's Organization for Freedom and Peace strongly condemned
the Chinese Consulate's behavior in Sweden. She said, "Such a thing
happening in Sweden has made me feel angry. They are so afraid of Falun Gong
that they even use these methods in our country to influence us."
A representative from the Swedish Falun Dafa Association introduced the
global lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, the instigator of the persecution against
Falun Gong. He also explained that Luo Gan, a head of the "610
Office,"* was the subject of several lawsuits during his recent visit to
Europe.
The attendees all expressed that China's dictatorship would not be allowed
to attack Sweden, where human rights are respected.
*The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to
persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in
the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.
Posting date: 9/23/2003
Original article date: 9/22/2003
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide